| Abstract: | Individual factors of resistance to insecticides attributable to chromosomes II, III and V of the SKA strain of houseflies (Musca domestica L) were combined in pairs to determine how their presence affects resistance. The re-synthesised strains with resistance factors on chromosomes II and V, and on chromosomes III and V, were tested with several organophosphorus insecticides and DDT. The penetration delaying mechanism Pen on chromosome III, which alone gives little or no resistance, slightly increased the resistance of flies with the microsomal detoxifying factor Ses on chromosome V to diazinon and malaoxon-ethyl (c. × 1.5), but was more effective in increasing resistance to DDT (× 6). There was no effect on the response to other insecticides tested. The combined effect of the mechanisms of resistance on chromosome II (glutathione S-ethyl transferase and phosphatase) and on chromosome V (microsomal detoxication) approximated to the product of the resistance conferred by each of these mechanisms singly, suggesting that the mechanisms of resistance on the two chromosomes act independently. Therefore, most of the strong resistance to organophosphorus insecticides in the SKA strain results from the interaction between delayed penetration (chromosome III) and the factors of resistance on chromosome II, and the independent action of the resistance factors on chromosomes II and V. |
